


It moves

by Ancalima



Series: Safe here [18]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Gen, THIS IS THE CHAPTER I'VE BEEN WORKING ON!, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 11:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7756945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ancalima/pseuds/Ancalima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fake mission leads to Ezra's capture along with Commander Sato. Can the Ghost crew save them before its to late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It moves

**Author's Note:**

> This, this is the start. This is a two chapter run, with a third as a sequel that stands on its own. This is what I've been warning ya all about. I've been WAITING on this! Oh gosh how I've waited. It ends on a cliffhanger even! All the fluff has lead to this! There will be blood, there will be Ezra screaming and I am so proud at myself XD ...yeah no really, I am, I worked hard on this. Just a warning, this chapter may squeak some out, so be careful if you're sensitive.

Working with Commander Sato was always interesting if a bit straining since the other didn't quite seem to know what to make of Ezra, though he was learning to trust the young padawan it from their mission to find the missing Rebel squadron. Or so Ezra assumed since he appeared to listen when Ezra spoke.

But nothing could go according to plans even working with the larger rebellion that they were now a part of, and once again they got captured.

Him, Commander Sato and a small team that Sato had been leading on the supply run to the Outer Rim planet. By now they knew that the transmission had been rigged by the Empire and there had been no people that needed saving but at the time they had fully believed it until they were captured and brought on board the Star Destroyer.

This time however the man at the helm didn't underestimate 'Jabba' and sent him straight to the interrogation cell, separating him from Sato and the rest.

Annoyances warred with unease as he struggled to get out only to flop back when the door slid open to reveal the Imperial officer standing there but instead of a interrogation droid, a man in white was standing right behind him, limping as he stepped in.

In his hands he had a jar of something that was twitching and Ezra narrowed his eyes. Before he could focus to much on it the officer spoke.

“Agent Kallus has been rather clear in us not underestimating you, after all the ships you've been on that has meet with a...unfortunate end, I'm inclined to believe him.” The officer drawled, sunken eyes staring at Ezra as he kept his arms behind his back.

“Good on you, you're marginally more clever then the rest.” Ezra snorted. “Want a medal for that?”

“No. But I would like your silence. As it is we are still under orders to keep you alive...for now. Until the Inquisitors can come and retrieve you. But that doesn't mean in one piece.” He gestured and the interrogation bed leveled until Ezra was laying, growling a bit in unease.

“And interrogation droids are not the only ones to get results...though this is still highly experimental.” He smirked at Ezra.

“Yes, yes, very experimental, not yet tested in fact, to few Force sensitive for it.” Ezra looked to the man in white, his face growing a frown as he watched him prepare scalpels. Several more straps came down around his legs and upper body, leaving his stomach area exposed as the doctor cut it open.

His pulse rose. “What are you doing!” He snapped, looking back at the officer when he spoke.

“Getting results.” There was a twisted note of satisfaction in his voice. “Doctor, proceed.”

The viroscalpel touched flesh and Ezra groaned in pain, his whole body tensing up, eyes wide as he felt himself being sliced open, was he screaming? He must be, he could taste blood in his mouth. First light he had forgotten how much being opened up hurt, especially without being drugged first!

His thick breathing echoed of the halls as the doctor peeled a flap of his skin away enough to peer in, Ezra managing to glance down while gritting his teeth, air flowing between them and his lips as he did.

“Ah yes, good, good, it will fit nicely in right here.” The doctor crooned, sounding way to pleased with himself for Ezra's sake. He was certainly not pleased with the way he could peer into his own body.

“Ah, a missing kidney? Oh well no bother.” The Doctor hummed then seemed to make a note of it for the Imperial records. Why Ezra had no idea as the doctor reached for the jar.

And then he lost all moisture to his mouth, staring at it. There was something metallic in that jar but it was moving, twitching as if alive and it felt WRONG, wrong on so many levels Ezra couldn't even start to identify. 

“This is a little thing I've been working on.” He sounded to pleased, talking as if just to hear himself. Perhaps locked away to long on his own with only himself to keep company and therefor needing to fill the space with his own voice. “Yes, yes, this will do nicely, now lets get you into a new home little one...” 

Ezra watched him open the jar and use a tweezers to pick up the squirming thing while cooing at it. It reminded him of a worm and then the man placed it inside Ezra. “Yes, yes, good, good it will make its home there. Now lets get you closed up so it won't just slip out. Ooooh this is going to be interesting.”

Ezra groaned as the doctor cauterized the wound shut, sealing Ezra up as if he was just a breached ship hull and the smell of burning flesh was rather nauseating. 'Breath in through the nose, out through the mouth...Ezra breath...just...just...breath...'

It came crashing down as something MOVED within him and Ezra's eyes widened, feeling how it wiggled inside him before a small pinprick of pain went through his spine. “Ah...”

“Ah yes! It seems to have latched on! Wonderful, wonderful. By now it should be burrowing its way in.” The doctor dropped the tool on the tray, clapping his hands together in almost childish glee.

Ezra body spasmed in the straps, eyes wide as he stared up at the ceiling. And then he groaned louder in pain.

“Ah yes, there we go. Make yourself nice and homey little one.” 

“Shut...up...” Ezra hissed, his focus wavering as he was slowly straightened up on the board. The moment his body was the right way the pain latched through his body like a hot iron poker rammed through his spine. “What did you...do to me!” He hissed, glaring at the scientist, his whole body jerking with every sensation going through his body.

He was hot yet cold, he was sweating and he was shaking, his whole body felt like it was being pulled yet squeezed at the same time, ever sensation and sound to loud for him to really handle yet being forced to at the same time.

“Oh, oh just a little specially engineered bug of mine. I never thought I'd get to test it! Its designed for Force sensitive and the Empire is more inclined to training them under their own feet then giving them to me. But you...oh what they don't know won't hurt them and after the death of the Grand Inquisitor so many are gunning after your head.” The man licked his lips, staring at Ezra. “By now it should have latched onto every nerve and sensation in your body, burrowing through your very being, it feeds of the Force and is going to turn it into a poison for your own body. It will Most likely not kill you.” He gleefully clapped his hands together. “I can't wait to see how it will effect you!”

“Throw him in with the others and set up a monitor droid, you have other duties to attend to in the meantime.” The Imperial officer snorted as the doctor pouted. “Yes sir. Lucky droid...”

“As for you...” He looked at Ezra, smirking a bit. “Perhaps a few hours with that inside you will make you cooperate with us.” He turned to the stormtroopers. “Corporal, take him to the cell with the others and keep them all under triple guard.” One of them saluted. His reply however was lost in Ezra's scream of pain, the medical instruments on the table beside the table suddenly hitting the walls as he did, a pulse of pain going through everyone in their level of the ship.

“Oh good, good, I'm glad I got to witness this!” The doctor recovered quicker then most. “A loss of control, I'll have to write this down.”

“I...get him in the cell with the others, now.” The officer demanded, Ezra's breathing echoing in the suddenly quiet room.

“Y-Yes sir!”

Ezra barely registered being unstrapped though when he was dragged of the table and his arms cuffed behind his back, he could feel the thing on his inside jerk. He screamed again, another pulse rattling the medical instruments on the ground before he spat out blood, coating the white armor of the stormtrooper in front of him, some of it dribbling down his chin.

Ezra's brain was spinning, his whole body concentrated on what was inside of him. He couldn't focus on anything else but the parasite inside of him, moving, burrowing, GROWING inside him. He barely noted that the stormtroopers were actually handling him carefully, not wanting to trigger another pulse of the Force.

He was to busy trying to keep his mind and his stomach in control. 

Another spike of pain went from his stomach to his brain. Ezra's knees buckled under him as he threw up over the durasteel beneath him, absently hearing a yell before pain blossomed across his temple and he fell blissfully unconscious.

()()()()()()

“Commander, what WAS that?” Sato looked to the group he had been captured with. “I...do not know. Whatever it was, it was not something good.” He frowned, slowly placing his arms behind his back to consider options.

As far as he knew they managed to get the rescue signal of in time. And he knew that the Ghost crew always paid close attention to any mission their youngest member went on, if no one else came then they would at the very least, they had already proved many times capable of being a rescue team, with or without sanction.

But that pulse...the pulse of pain and wrongness...it clung to him in a unpleasant manner, like walking through a swamp.

He was broken from his thoughts as the door slid open to reveal two stormtroopers and... 

“Ezra...”

The stormtrooper threw the teenager into the cell, two of the rebel troopers catching the teen before he hit the durasteel and then a droid with several optics for recording purpose following in. “If I were you, I'd keep that kid unconscious for your own sake.” The stormtrooper said before the door shut.

Sato frowned. “Wha-”

“Sir! He doesn't look good.” Sato turned quickly and knelt down where the two had placed Ezra, noting the cut open lower part of the flightsuit and the cauterized wound on the teens scarred stomach, blood coated the teens chin and lips and he had a large red bump on his right side temple. His arms were securely tied back with a pair of handcuffs.

“...Ezra?” He reached out, carefully tapping the padawans clammy cheeks with a deeper frown, slipping two fingers to the neck to check his pulse. He noted how hot the other felt, a sharply rising fever, along with a torrent of a beating heart in Ezra. “Ezra, open your eyes.” He tapped again, giving a relieved sigh when dazed blue eyes opened.

“...Co...mmand...er...Sato?” He panted out, blood staining his teeth as he shivered.

“Yes, yes good, you recognize me. You are a mess, what did they do to you?” He carefully touched the padawan's cauterized wound. “What did they do?”

The touch however triggered a convulsion and then a flash of pain going through everyone in the cell, the lights flickering as Ezra's spine snapped up in a unnatural angle. “Get it out! Get it out of me!” He cried out in panic before screaming in pain, another flash going through the cell before Ezra dropped sharply, giving a cough that bought fresh blood up, his breathing rushed and shallow in the small cell.

“Ezra! What did they put in you?” Sato quickly started to unbutton his coat, leaving him in his undershirt and placed it over the shivering teen.

“A thing! It moves, its not organic but it moves!” Ezra dazed eyes stared up at the ceiling before focusing sharply on Sato. “Get it out of me Commander, please get it out of me get it out of me get it out of me...” He dissolved into a chanting of the same words. 

Get it out of me.

Sato frowned. “Ezra, we can't, we have nothing here to get this out of you, whatever it is and attempting to remove it here may kill you...” He whispered to the teen. Ezra choked on his own words then he started to sob, rolling onto his side underneath the coat and curling his knees up to his stomach, his small shape reminding everyone sharply just how young the padawan was. It was suddenly clear why the rest of the Ghost crew had been protecting him so sharply.

Among all of Ezra's wonderful qualities and skills, he was still the youngest of them, still a child in their eyes.

Sato shifted until he could pull the teens head into his lap, like he had seen the Jedi done when the Lasat had gotten to overeager in sparring and slammed the teen over the head a bit to hard, Ezra not managing to block it.

“They'll come for us. They'll come for YOU Ezra. You just need to have faith in them. Kanan will come for you.” He murmured, eyeing the paleness overtaking the tan skin as he cleaned the blood of the teens chin with his coat's sleeve. He could replace his coat later if there was a later, but he could not replace a padawan. 

“...Kanan...I want Kanan...” Ezra shuddered and closed his eyes, a quiver going through his whole soul.

'Kanan...help...'


	2. It moves (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles all the way from her hotel room*

Teal eyes snapped open as he stared at the bunk over him before he threw himself out of the bed, pulling on his clothes quicker then he had done anything else in the world.

His steps took him out of the Ghost in almost a sprint, the Jedi moving through the command ship catching the attention of those around , his hurried moves to the command central causing whispers to rise and travel the ship to where the rest of the Ghost crew were, bringing them away from their activities.

Kanan burst into the central, eyes catching Hera the moment she looked up, the Twi'lek replaying Commander Sato's last message.

“This is Commander Sato, we have been ambushed and Ezra is already down. I repeat, we are caught in a pincer move, the relief mission was nothing but a charade and Ezra is down. Ezra is down and we are caught. There is a Star Destroyer above us.”

Teal eyes hardened and Hera nodded to him. 

“...Rex, we're going to need your help.” Kanan twirled on his heel, storming back to the Ghost, the rest of the crew and Rex falling into step behind him. Ahsoka remained behind to be the leader the Rebellion needed in case...in case of the worst scenario.

She could however send other fighters with them as backup.

“Is he...”

“Alive, but fading, fast. He...I don't know what's going on. He's in pain, he's screaming but he doesn't feel hurt at the same time. It feels like he's sick.” Kanan frowned hard, trying to reach out only to encounter shield upon shield on Ezra's side. Yet they didn't feel natural in the same way his student usually did.

It felt like he was trying to keep something out. Yet wasn't managing it and was just throwing up one shield after the other in a desperate attempt to block it out.

“He's fighting something but I can't...he won't let me IN. He can't understand its me, whatever is happening he's not in his right state of mind.” Kanan growled as Hera threw herself into her pilot chair, the Ghost disengaging from the command ship.

She noted that several ships were following them, inwardly grateful for the backup.

“Karabast...kid knows how to get himself into a pickle.” Zeb growled quietly. 

“He is a Jedi. Jedi's usually knew how to get themselves into trouble.” Rex said lightly, but his tone didn't reflect the seriousness of his face. “Padawan's more then any of them. Usually had a Master there though, if not their own then another to help them...” He sighed. 

“Yeah well, there aren't that many of left anymore.” Kanan growled before looking at Hera. “They should still be in orbit around the fake mission planet. Or so the Force tells me. Ezra is still there at least, I can tell that much but I don't know if Commander Sato and the rest are there.”

“Guess we can only hope.” Hera started transmitting to their backup where they were going before launching into hyperdrive. “Hopefully...we'll get there in time.”

()()()()()

Ezra was getting worse. The pulses no longer came when he twitched and he was no longer spitting up blood but sweat was rolling of his body in waves and his skin had taken a distinct yellow tone to it along with the whites of his eyes. His breath rasped as he tried to breath and his eyes were far gone to his fever that had leveled out but remained high. Occasionally he'd mumble, a word or two familiar before it was lost as he lost himself back to the fever that was raging his body.

Yet worst of all was a slight rise to the teens stomach. Sato hadn't noticed it the first hour but after the second he could tell a slight difference in the skinny teen's frame and after the third it had been obvious enough for all of them.

'A thing. It moves, its not organic but it moves...get it out of me...' Sato's mind repeated for him, swallowing heavily as he carefully wiped Ezra's to hot forehead again with the coat sleeve. “Ezra, can you still hear us?” He murmured, absently noting the quiet of the rest of his group.

“...Kanan?” Ezra rasped. 

“...No lad.”

“...Hera?”

“...No. I'm sorry Ezra, they aren't here yet.” Sato squeezed a thin shoulder.

Ezra's eyes flickered to stare at him, blinking slowly. “Kanan.” There was a moment's silence and then Ezra spoke up again. “Dad?” He rasped and Sato lost any words he could get out as blue eyes closed again. The silence in the small cell felt almost ominous.

“...Sir, I'm not sure how much longer he can hold on. Not with that...thing inside of him, growing.” Sato looked up at his Lieutenant and nodded. “I know. We have to be patient though. We can do nothing inside this cell unless one of you have developed powers or tools out of nothing?” The rest traded looks before resignedly settling.

“If he dies, what's the Jedi going to do?” One of them asked suddenly.

“...A good question. One I do not have a answer for. But the Empire was the ones who did this. My best guess? He would do something terribly heroic and terribly foolish.” Sato sighed. He knew, while powerful, the Jedi's were not infallible, their demise had proven that.

He carefully wiped away another bead of sweat, absently wondering how the child was even producing anymore fluids while making sure the fever had not risen anymore. He jerked however as there was noises of gunfire in the hall outside their cells, staring at it. “...Ezra, they're here.” He called, squeezing the thin shoulder but getting no response except for the irregular shallow breaths that escaped the padawn.

That was not good. If there was any time they needed to be rescued it was NOW.

As if his prayers were answered, the door hissed open to reveal the large Lasat, the man grinning at them with his bo-rifle in hand.

But the grin faded as he got a good look at them all. “Oh karabast.” He hissed, luminous green eyes focused on the human on the ground. 

“They took him away hours ago and returned him again, he was like this then and he's been getting worse.” Sato said as Zeb stepped in, picking up the teen with care. “He said they put something inside him.”

Zeb looked up sharply at that and then nodded. “Chopper has weapons for some of you. We need to move, there are several cells lose on the Star Destroyer Commander but we don't know how long we can handle keeping the Stormtroopers at bay.” He spoke even as he felt the heat of Ezra's body through the clothes, he hurriedly got rid of the handcuffs and threw them away, settling Ezra against him in a all to horribly familiar unconscious state. 

Karabast! He knew that wasn't good, Ezra didn't look, smell or feel right at all.

“We need to go then.” Sato got a blaster from the droid, hurrying after the Lasat to meet another team further down the hall. No Jedi yet but he may be doing something to sabotage the Star Destroyer for all Sato knew.

Perhaps it was just as well that Kanan Jarrus had yet to see his padawan.

“Sabine! We need some of your work down this hall!” Zeb growled as a stormtrooper team cut them of from the main group.

There wasn't a verbal answer but the hallway started smoking colorfully after a few seconds of continuous blasts, the Mandolarian laughing happily on the other side as they took out the stormtroopers. Her laugh stopped abruptly when she saw the state of Ezra. “What did they do to him?” She hissed, her vocoder picking up on her agitation. 

“Don't know. Said they placed something inside him.” Zeb continued moving with the group, holding Ezra to him as they ran. “Signal Kanan that we found them and for Hera and the rest of the fleet to be ready.” He grumbled.

They arrived at a war zone of a hanger bay, but with the weapons that had been picked up along the way in their scramble to get to the hanger, the troopers there were caught in the crossfire. Zeb kept his arms around the boy in his arms, for once letting others do the fighting for him, to worried to let him down.

And then Kanan came bounding into the hanger bay, teal eyes swirling around to see a blue eyed bright boy in orange only to find him tucked in Commander Sato's coat in Zeb's arms. Long legs brought him over faster then Zeb had ever seen the Jedi move.

“He's not good Kanan, I don't know...” He trailed off, watching the man kneel down to touch Ezra, the teen barely reacting to the touch, his yellowish hot skin soaked with sweat and dried blood on his lips. 

“...” Something dark passed through those teal eyes and Zeb swore the air around them went colder as Kanan slowly stood. “We're getting to the Ghost.” He said calmly, before moving around the crate, flickering his lightsaber.

The Force thrummed through him as Kanan let himself be immersed in it, tilting his body and head as the blasters focused on him. He barely registered them, doing only what the Force was telling him to do, moving with purpose that could have scared Siths of old out of his path.

What does a Master do for a padawan? 

They nurtured and prepared. Protected and guided. Taught and educated.

What does a father do for a son?

Anything the world demanded and then some.

Kanan moved with purpose, guided through the Force as he moved between the ranks of the Imperials, not letting himself second guess or despair, he didn't have the time for it. He avoided friendly and unfriendly fire, his lightsaber swishing through the air, blocking shots and cutting blasters, taking out each and every target until no enemy stood between them and the ships.

He turned, eyes focusing on where Zeb and Sabine was hurrying after him, the Lasat carrying his precious burden as carefully as possible despite running.

“The Ghost.” Kanan said shortly, adrenalin and the Force pumping through him.

Thanks to the sabotage of the drivers, they escaped into hyperdrive.

But Kanan's focus was on Ezra, the way he felt.

“What did they do to him?” Hera stared at them before coming down into the cargo, Chopper in charge of piloting.

“Commander said they put something inside him.” 

Kanan glanced at Zeb then removed the coat, staring at the cut up flightsuit, the cauterized wound on Ezra's swollen stomach.

“...Karabast...”

“Oh by the First Light...”

Kanan stared. “...Sabine and Hera, get bacta gel, a viroscalpel and gauze from the medbay. Zeb, Rex...you two need to hold him down. Hera, I need boiled water and towels after you get what I need from the medbay. Sabine, I need you to inform the rest of the ships that the detonations inside the Star Destroyer have been set and are ready to be exploded.” 

“...Kanan wha-.” 

“It needs to come out.” Kanan said shortly.

“...You're going to...”

“That or he dies.” Kanan was working on autopilot. That thing, whatever it was, needed to get out of Ezra or they lost Ezra. And he needed everyone to do their part even if it was just to keep them busy.

“Zeb, Rex, hold him and hold him tightly.” The Lasat and clone moved into position, looking at Kanan. “...You're sure mate?”

“Yes.” Kanan looked at him then lightly brushed his fingers against Ezra's sweat soaked hair. “Or we lose him for good.” He accepted the scalpel from Sabine, absently noting Hera was putting down the rest of the supplies he had asked for before moving to the rest of their tasks.

His focus however was on the cauterized wound. “...Hold him down, if he moves...”

Kanan leaned in and started cutting along the line of the cauterized wound, mentally apologizing to his padawan as he groaned and twitched against the cargo floor. Blood oozed around his hands but he focused on carefully opening Ezra, noting Zeb twitch as a smell of infection hit them, noting Rex's hissing breath, noting Sabine cursing, noted Hera small gasp when she returned but his focus was on that gray thing inside of Ezra's insides, burrowed inside his padawan.

It felt wrong. It felt like Ezra yet it felt wrong and as Kanan reached in, grabbing around the middle of it and pulling, it struggled to remain where it was before it was out and into the air. It was the size of Kanan's fist, four inches long and looked like a angry gray worm covered in blood but looking closer he could tell parts of it was pink. 

It had been using Ezra's flesh to grow.

He threw it into the box Hera was holding ready for the thing before focusing sharply back on his shallowly breathing padawan, pulling his lightsaber. “Kana-”

He adjusted the length and carefully sealed the wound shut with the lightsaber before grabbing the bacta gel and spraying it onto the wound, ignoring them talking to him. Kanan glanced at Ezra's face to see it smoothing out, no longer scrunched up in pain. He was still breathing, still there and he could FEEL the Force inside him.

He quickly rubbed his hands on his own pants before he took the bandages, Zeb carefully propping Ezra to sit up and get the top half of the flightsuit of him. Kanan slowly rolled the white gauze around the teens tender stomach. He absently noted that sitting up like that, Ezra's breathing got a bit deeper or that could be his imagination. 

And then he sat back, staring at Ezra, still alive, skin still tinged with yellow, still warm but there, alive.

And then he promptly turned to the side to throw up in the cargo hold of the Ghost which was why he had not gone to the medbay to do this. Absently he noted the blood on his hands, Ezra's blood as his stomach emptied everything he'd ever consumed in what felt like the span of forever.

He felt a careful hand rub his back, shaking hard until the revulsion had finally stopped. “He...he needs a...Iv and...and...”

“Shh Kanan, we got it. We got it.” Hera whispered softly, glancing to see Rex pick up Ezra and nod before turning back to the Jedi. “Its alright Kanan, we got him.”


End file.
